I was working on one for about 2 weeks straight. It put me in the mapping slum I just got out of. I'd rather not. I have no real motivation for the contest, I think it's that "dynamic payload" thing that's just getting to me.

I was on the server when it was being played and I have to disagree with making it KoTH. I can honestly say that playing your map was the most fun I ever had on an arena map, strictly because even if you died and were spectating, you weren't doing it for long as each round was nicely short.

Only two things come to mind for changes: 1. Sometimes it gets really difficult to get on the cylinder with the health, in the center of the map. 2. The area on the side of the building, next to the drop of doom, can be really hazardous when there's a sniper involved. A prop or a partition between the two spawns would help resolve that.

Anyways, good job so far with the alpha. Can't wait to see it in its finished form.

Not respawning and not being able to play just fragments the game instead of making it more interesting it abrupts the flow and there's no reason for it.

I don't like spectating because i got unlucky and got killed at the very start after that possibly sitting out a round aswel. Why not koth so i can respawn and the result is the sum of several actions instead of just a single one.

Why not do both? The Arena Alpha won't take long at all, then you can move onto koth, which'll take a little longer alpha dev wise... That way, you please both sides of the arguement.

Mind you, I'm saying this without playing it.

EDIT: ran through it... Yea, you should keep it arena for now. Something you might want to consider to up the "fun" level, is to activate the cap sooner than 60s. Backlot activates in ~30-35s. Doing this, there is a slight shift in game flow, from "Beat the shit out of everyone" to "Beat the shit out of everyone while trying to hold the point"... which, when there is an objective to beating the shit out of everyone, things become more fun.

So, as the "resident arena expert" here... I'd say, stick to arena, then convert it to KotH and have 2 versions. People just hate arena, and rather play KotH. But is Arena is what you want to make, then make it.

Also, the front yard where the death-cliff-o-doom is, make that wider, that is a good flank, it is going to be dominated by Soldiers, Demos, heavys and pyros

As one of the people who were saying it should be KOTH during the test, I must admit that 99% of that was simply a dislike of the Arena game mode itself, not the map. If you really like Arena, keep it that way, but just realize that most people on most servers don't like Arena at all. I agree with Frozen's suggestion to halve the capture point unlock time; a full minute is an eternity when you're in spec and waiting for the round to end.

Also, you NEED to patch over those holes by the point. There are gaps between the big cylindrical thing and the raised platforms where you can crouch-jump up onto it, and only Scouts, Demos, and Soldiers can get out of them because they're too tight to fall through and too deep to single jump out of. I seriously got stuck in them three times.

On gameday I found the heavy to be very effective on this map. The room across from the point is a good camping spot (although the windows were invisible apparently). The map is also quartered into two sections the area near the point, and the one near the death pit. People kept capping very quickly (which just isn't fun in arena) because they didn't want to bother to look for people very far away. But I'm only so-so on arena, so you do what you want.

2/12/12 - A2: Clipping and Layout Changes
- Halfed the the time that has to pass for the point to unlock (from 60 seconds down to 30 seconds)
- Removed the deathpit, replaced with a new building, some silo's, and a nice little bit of detail and cover
- Raised the displacements around the flank route to make it easier to jump onto the platforms
- Moved the small health kit by the new building to accomidate the layout
- Added platforms to make it easier to get on top of the "rocket" thats behind the point
- Added a prop ramp, then improved the clipping, behind the point so it is easier to get on top of the "rocket"
- Enlarged the "drop downs" behind the point to prevent getting stuck
- Fixed the invisible glass by the point
- Changed an overlay in the middle around the two medium ammo kits to avoid confusion
- Small detail changes on the buildings around the map

It already looks a lot better. Aside from me not liking Arena in general, it looks like you've already addressed the three or four things that I thought were annoying. Look forward to testing it out on gameday.

Hello everyone. Bet no one expected this update! I'm teaming up with Lain to bring this map back with a total redesign of the layout and a twist to the usual arena mode. Using a prefab I put together a few weeks ago we hope to create a fun multi-staged sd_arena map. The mode itself is a bit rough around the edges but hey it doesn't crash servers (as far as I know).

First off, there's no color difference anywhere (except that rock texture in the middle) so I can't tell which side is for what team, or even where I am most of the time. I know Arena maps don't need team recognition quite as much cos there's no respawns, but this particular variant on Arena does (limited respawns, yes, but respawns nonetheless), and I can already imagine being frustrated because I got lost, and then had the entire enemy team rugby tackle me cos it turns out I was standing right next to their spawn room when their lone surviving member capped the Australium.

Also, I couldn't change class in spawn. I know that there are no respawns in Arena, but there's still the ten seconds or so before a round starts in which players can switch class and modify their loadouts. (Also the instructions board texture is missing, as are a couple of other textures. I know Lain mentioned this in chat but I'm gonna put it here anyway.)

Speaking of the instructions board, the back of it is invisible. (Also tbh I don't think you need the instructions board, I think the gamemode is clear enough.)

The clipping here is weird. There's an invisible wall that goes down the middle of the bar, so I can walk on the front half but not the back half. Why not block off the bar entirely? Or better yet, close that door entirely and remove the clip so Spies can hide behind it!